The No. 48 team faced its first dose of adversity during the Chase last Sunday at Texas when Johnson was in an accident on Lap 3 that sent the entire team scrambling to salvage the day. Johnson ended up finishing 38th and the point lead the No. 48 team had accumulated going into Texas had shrunk to 73 points.

“It was definitely not the day we wanted,” Johnson said. “We did not want to lose points like that. Luckily we had a big margin. We’ve been saying all along that anything can happen, but we’re going to two great tracks (Phoenix and Homestead-Miami) for us and we’ll just keep racing.”

Calling Phoenix a “great track for us” is an understatement. Johnson leads the series in wins at Phoenix International Raceway with three. He dominated last season’s Chase event at Phoenix starting on the pole and leading 217 laps for the win.

While Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammates are hoping to close the gap even more this weekend, NASCAR’s Pre-Race Loop Data shows Johnson on top of several key categories: Driver Rating (120.0), Average Running Position (5.479) and Lap In The Top 15 (95.2%).

In 12 starts, Johnson has posted three wins, seven top fives and 10 top 10s at Phoenix International Raceway.